


After the Final Ascension

by wingedScribe



Series: Gay Shard Feelings [2]
Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Post-Canon, Reunion Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-12 22:34:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5683474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingedScribe/pseuds/wingedScribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Final Ascension, Ati and Leras see each other again. Plotless (mostly) fluff and smut and the emotional fallout of having been changed by the Shards, and reunion sex because that was the prompt that started me writing this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After the Final Ascension

**Author's Note:**

> So I ended up dragging myself into gay shard hell and now I'm dragging everyone else with me. Or at least everyone who is going to read this. Naturally, this relies on a lot of headcanons about Ati and Leras' past lives and also some conjecture about the afterlife of the cosmere (and by 'conjecture' I mean 'fabricating a setting that they can talk and then have sex in.') 
> 
> This was also me trying to practice writing smut, so we'll see how that's gone.

Ati was in a large, open space--easily five times larger than the hall of Keep Venture, and of a similar style--white stone, large stained glass windows painting the space in bright colors, a skylight filling the place with light. It was almost completely empty, but in front of Ati there was a cluster of objects, almost laughably small in the space. There was a bed, carefully made, and a small table next to a chair--and in the chair was a familiar figure, dressed simply in a white shirt and pants, looking up as if he’d noticed Ati’s arrival.

Ati had forgotten, he realized as he met the other man’s eyes, how dark Leras’ hair was, the way he bit his lower lip and the little line across his forehead that showed up only when he was deep in thought. He’d somehow let himself forget the brightness of Leras’ light grey eyes, the way that when they met his own Ati suddenly felt like he was home again, like there was nothing that could possibly be wrong with the world, and his breath caught with the aching familiarity of that. And then he saw that Leras had been crying.

Leras _never_ cried, and the sight alone had Ati stumbling forward, shoes clacking against the stone floor, feeling his own eyes beginning to sting with tears. Leras pushed himself up from his chair, the book he was reading tossed to the ground as he moved to meet Ati halfway. It was less an embrace than a controlled collision, but Ati didn’t care. How could he have cared? Leras’ arms were around him, and they were so warm, so solid, so real--

The reality of the moment, the physical sensation of being held again, landed on him and his breath caught, forming into a sob halfway through as he lost what little control he had on his tears, holding Leras close to him and wanting never to let go. He wasn’t the only one crying, he realized--Leras was as well, his thin shoulders shuddering with the force of it.

It had been so long since Ati had wanted to protect someone, to hold them close and fix everything that was wrong, that for a moment the sensation’s strangeness made him freeze.After that came horror, shadows of what he’d done rising before his eyes--cities on fire, volcanoes erupting, children dead in the streets--the screams of people who were being impaled--a man slowly breaking the bones of the closest thing he had to family--

“Ati?” Leras asked, his voice audibly hoarse, and Ati shuddered, shutting his eyes as if that would stop the memories.

“I’m sorry,” he managed as he remembered a figure, dropping out of the mist and buried by the ash, feeling nothing but satisfaction and perhaps, a shadow of guilt, of grief-- “I’m sorry, Leras, I--” _I killed him! I Ruined everything you love! I took it from you!_ “--I’m--”

“Ati,” Leras said, and he was still crying, Ati could tell from his voice, but his hands when they cupped Ati’s face were steady. “Ati, look at me.”

“I’m sorry,” Ati said again, as he opened his eyes, terrified without reason of what he would find. But when the light found him again, Leras was smiling sadly, still crying, but he wasn’t looking away, he wasn’t horrified or pushing Ati away _although he had every right to--_

He was _smiling_ at him, radiant in the warm light from above them, and Ati ached with something that was old and familiar and _he loved Leras, so, so much--_

“Stop,” Leras said, his voice growing unsteady. “Ati--you’re not the only one who needs to apologize.”

It was strange, after so many years of fury and resentment and heartbreak, how long it took Ati to remember now that his head was clear. But it did come back, the cage and the shardpool and the echo of a voice saying “I’m sorry I have to do this, I’m so sorry” and then--eons.

_Alone._

He looked at Leras again, and remembered that he had been crying even before Ati had arrived.

“Leras--” he started, but that wasn’t enough, he’d hurt too many things with words so he leaned forward, kissed Leras like it was the first time all over again. Just like that time, Leras was hesitant, surprised, but then one of his hands slid up into Ati’s hair and he moved and it was as if they’d never been apart, tender enough to make Ati’s chest ache as his own hands settled on Leras’ hips, as he heard Leras’ breath catch just like it used to. Leras was warm against him, and it was still the warmth that shocked Ati the most--after so long with nothing, suddenly there was the warmth of someone else against him. Not just anyone, it was Leras, still here after everything and he was crying again, he knew, if he’d ever stopped.

“We’ll have to talk,” Leras said, pulling away for a moment, and he was crying as well. As much as that hurt to see, it was strangely reassuring to know that Ati wasn’t the only one overwhelmed by this. “We’ll-- but, later. Not now. I--” He moved back in, kissing Ati hard and taking his breath away.

“I didn’t think you would come back,” he said, when they parted again, and Ati stopped, eyes wide.

“You--”

“I thought you would hate me,” Leras whispered, looking down and Ati’s heart broke again in that moment.

“And you waited here anyway?” Ati asked, looking around the space,his own voice breaking. Leras nodded.

“Of course I did. I love you.”

Ati could do nothing then except pull him closer again, kissing him because it was easier than words, easier than saying _I never stopped loving you either, not after anything, even when I was Ruin I loved you so, so much, I chased your shadow for years, for centuries--_

“Leras, I’m always coming back,” he said when they parted again. “I’m-- you shouldn’t have waited for me, but… I’m always going to try to come back. I love you.”

“Of course I’m waiting for you,” Leras said, a bit of the old bite coming back to his voice as he pulled back, but he couldn’t hide his smile. The familiarity, the slide into Leras’ usual snappiness made Ati grin through the tears, leaning forward to kiss Leras again, pushing away everything but the warm arms around him, the way that Leras still seemed unsure where to put his hands for a few moments before one settled in Ati’s hair and the other on his chest, pulling him closer by his dark shirt.

“Leras--” he gasped when he could, and he caught Leras’ smile, the unrestrained curve of his mouth and the way the corners of his eyes crinkled and Ati kissed him again because there was nothing else he could do in that moment.

Leras pulled back some time later, wiping his face with one sleeve in a supremely useless gesture--he was still crying--and looking at Ati, seemingly unable to keep a smile off of his face. Ati didn’t bother trying to clean his face off, but he stared at Leras too, trying to figure out how any of his features could possibly have slipped from his memory. There were his eyes, of course, but also the nose that Leras always grumbled about, there was his dark skin and the black bangs that fell into his eyes and the sharp lines of his cheekbones, something that Ati had tried to capture a thousand times in drawings but never had been able to, and then those skinny shoulders, Leras’ whole body wiry, hands calloused both from working with metal and then from a sword--

Whenever he’d seen Ati’s drawings of him, Leras had laughed, claiming that Ati made him look much better than he actually did. How did he not see that none of the drawings even came close, how none of them could really capture the small curve of his wry smile, or the affection in his eyes when he looked at Ati, or the skill of those calloused hands at making music?

Ati looked back at Leras’ eyes and found Leras looking at him as well, and suddenly keeping still was impossibly difficult when he could instead be kissing Leras, so he moved forward--and Leras had apparently gotten the same idea. The kisses were less desperate now, less sloppy and rushed but instead confident, years of familiarity coming back and reminding Ati what to do, how to move so that Leras’ breath would catch and his eyes go wide, his hands tightening as his control slipped.

 _“Ati,”_ Leras gasped, his hands moving down to Ati’s hips and holding him, seeming impossibly warm even through layers of clothing as he pulled Ati closer. Ati looked up at Leras’ eyes and there was heat behind them, pupil dilated and cheeks flushed and oh, this was another thing Ati had never been able to capture, to hold onto but Leras looked _perfect._

Ati just looked at him for a moment, before moving forward again, suddenly desperate to be touching Leras, making up for lost time and years of solitude and Leras’ skin was warm under his fingers when he pushed Leras’ shirt up and Ati couldn’t breathe, there were so many emotions caught in his throat-- love and relief and regret and desire, building with every touch, with the way that Leras’ breath turned into a hiss when Ati pulled him closer.

Clearly Ati wasn’t the only one being affected, as Leras pulled Ati forward, pushing one of his legs between Ati’s and _oh,_ he was already getting hard. Ati couldn’t have stopped himself from moaning at that if he’d wanted to, and he could hear Leras laugh breathlessly--and then Leras rolled his hips and Ati wasn’t sure he could think anymore. He held desperately to Leras’ shoulder, trying to hold himself together--when was the last time he’d wanted _anything_ as much as he wanted Leras in this moment?

The answer brought him to his senses as quickly and painfully as flaring tin, and he froze, the hand on Leras’ shoulder tensing to try to control the tremors that ran through it. He remembered all-consuming desire and it was erupting ashmounts, it was death and decay and destruction-- _when was the last time he’d wanted something without ruining it?_

“Ati?” Leras asked, and Ati realized he’d stopped, that now there was a hand rubbing circles into Ati’s back and another holding him close. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry,” Ati managed after a moment, pulling both of his own hands into his chest, not wanting to touch anything for fear that he would damage it--that he would _want_ to damage it, to damage _Leras_ \-- “I--”

He paused, swallowing, hating himself for destroying the moment but unable to stop his hands from shaking. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Leras stepped back and Ati froze for a moment, assuming the worst, but all Leras did was take Ati’s hands in his own, holding them gently and without fear.

“Ati, you’re not going to hurt me,” he said, quietly, and Ati wanted to believe him--but he couldn’t, and clearly Leras could see it somewhere in his face because he sighed quietly, before stepping forward and looking Ati in the eyes. “I trust you.”

“ _I_ don’t trust me,” Ati forced out, trying not to sob--not now, when he’d just stopped. Leras wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulled him close and Ati relaxed into him without even meaning to, some part of him too exhausted to resist.

“I know. But--Ati. I won’t _let_ you hurt me, alright? Can you trust that, at least?” Ati looked up, and saw that Leras was smiling wryly. “You weren’t the only god on Scadrial. And I was very good at stopping you from destroying things.”

That...was true. Ati blinked, breathing in, trying to slow his heartbeat, realizing how tightly his hands had been clenched as he slowly uncurled them. Leras kissed him, softly, and then pulled back--but he left his hand on Ati’s shoulder, and cupped Ati’s face with the other, brushing his calloused thumb gently over Ati’s cheekbones, wiping away tears as Ati’s breathing became level again.

“Are you okay?” Leras asked quietly, and Ati managed an (undoubtedly shaky) smile in response. “Do you want to stop?”

That took a moment more of thought--Ati had assumed that he’d wrecked the moment entirely, but if not--well, what if he froze up again? But at the same time, it had been so long, and he still desperately wanted to feel Leras again, like a fire that had sputtered momentarily but could rise again at any moment.

“We don’t have to,” Leras said quickly. “We have all the time in the world, you know.” Ati shook his head, once.

“I want to, but--” _I’m scared_ , the sentence ended, but Ati let it trail off instead. Leras stepped closer and kissed him, just briefly.

“Let me take charge, then,” he said, his voice still soft. “If you’re worried about hurting me, then just let me call the shots for right now, and if you want to stop, tell me and we will. I certainly won’t do anything that will hurt myself, will I?”

Ati probably could have argued that point, but instead he just smiled--stronger, this time, and said “Okay,” watching as Leras smiled in return--warm, genuine, not the wry smile he often favored.

Leras leaned forward, and the kiss started gentle--but it changed quickly as Leras’ hands found their way into Ati’s hair, playing with it in a way that always sent shivers down Ati’s spine, made his hands turn into fists in Leras’ shirt. When Leras pulled away he was flushed and Ati couldn’t stop staring at him, torn between wanting to kiss him again and wanting to stare at him forever.

“How about we take this to the bed?” Leras suggested, tilting his head back towards it, pulling Ati by the hand towards him--and towards the bed by extension, kissing him before turning and heading towards it, Ati following quickly after. As they reached it, Ati paused, taking stock of the situation.

“What?” Leras asked, his brow starting to furrow again, and Ati shook his head.

“It’s nothing. Just…” he paused, trying to figure out how to word this. “What do you want me to do?” It wasn’t what he was thinking-- _please tell me what to do, please take charge, I don’t trust myself to do this without screwing up_ \--but from the softness in Leras’ eyes, the way he stepped closer and cupped Ati’s face with one hand, he knew that Leras got the meaning.

“Lie down, okay? And take your shirt off. I’ll take things from there.” He said, leaning forward to kiss Ati quickly before moving away, letting Ati pull off his shirt. When Ati’s vision was unobstructed again, Leras was watching him, his eyes dark. Perhaps, earlier on, this would have made him self-conscious--but now, all it did was make heat pool in his stomach, knowing that Leras’ eyes were on him, that Leras wanted him as well. As he laid back onto the bed, Leras climbed on, dipping the mattress when he put his weight on it.

Leras straddled Ati’s hips and looked down at him, the light catching his hair and his eyes and making them shine. Ati moved to hold onto his hips, but Leras shook his head.

“I said I’ll take things from here, right?” He asked, smiling. “Trust me.” He leaned down, bracing himself with a hand by Ati’s head, and kissed him again, hard and warm and Ati only barely stopped himself from holding onto Leras, grabbing the sheets under himself instead because not holding onto something seemed impossible.

When Leras pulled away, Ati was breathless and watching him. Leras smirked, an expression that should have been infuriating, but which he made incredibly attractive and then leaned down again, ignoring Ati’s lips this time in favor of kissing along his neck, pausing at a place he knew was sensitive in order to suck a mark into it, Ati’s hips bucking in response.

“Fuck, _Leras--”_ he managed to force out, before it turned instead into something close to a moan. Leras smirked again, leaning back and looking down at Ati, one hand braced on Ati’s lower stomach to keep his hips down, _teasing him_.

Ati should have felt trapped by that, he realized after a moment. Leras had him pinned down, but-- something in the way Leras looked at him, even with that smug smirk, that made Ati feel like he was completely safe. It was more than just being set at ease--it was overwhelming, the deep trust that came with years of knowing one another and with the simple knowledge that Leras loved him as much as he loved Leras.

With trust came confidence, and Ati reached up suddenly and pulled Leras down towards him, throwing the smaller man off-balance with an undignified yelp. Ati laughed, kissing Leras now that he was in reach again, and when they separated Leras was laughing as well. Perhaps there was an edge of hysteria to it, but the laughter seemed to shatter a veil of tension, and Ati could feel the weight of centuries lift off of his shoulders as he wrapped an arm fully around Leras, laughing against the warm firmness of his chest.

“What happened to letting me handle things?” Leras asked, trying to get his breath back, and Ati snorted.

“I _am_ , but you weren’t going to move, were you?” Leras ducked his head, still laughing.

“I would have! Well, eventually. You’re beautiful, you know, it’s really distracting.” Ati mock-scowled at him, pulling Leras into another kiss now that he had him here.

“Excuses. You just like seeing me squirm.”

Leras paused, considering that, his eyes slipping from thoughtful to mischievous and a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, that’s true,” he admitted lightly, one of his hands finding it’s way to Ati’s hair again--and then he was kissing Ati, hard and passionate. Ati’s breath caught as Leras’ other hand slipped into Ati’s pants, his calloused fingers still so warm and deft that Ati found himself moaning into the kiss, the arm he still had around Leras tightening to a degree that had to be uncomfortable for the other man.

Leras broke the kiss, sliding out from under Ati’s arm and grinning down at him, something warm and soft in his eyes contrasting with the almost predatory smile. Ati felt a shiver run down his spine at the juxtaposition and tried to cant his hips up into Leras’ hand, but already Leras was pulling away, planting the hand on Ati’s hip to pin it down.

“I like seeing you like _this_ ,” Leras said, punctuating it with a kiss to Ati’s lips. “Spread out beneath me--or above me, or _anything_ \--with that look on your face.” He leaned down, pressing kisses to Ati’s neck that made Ati whine low at the back of his throat. “You’re so beautiful, Ati. When you blush, it makes all your freckles stand out even more.” In between his words,he kissed down Ati’s chest, going almost excruciatingly slowly as if he was trying to memorize every part of the redhead’s body. “And your _eyes_ , God Beyond, Ati--” his voice actually caught at that and he leaned up, meeting Ati’s eyes with his own for a moment. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but whatever it was it was the best action I ever took.”

“Leras--” Ati managed to gasp out, unsure how to respond to that, unsure how Leras could possibly say that after Ati had just tried to _destroy a planet--_

 _“Shh,”_ Leras said, moving back up to kiss him again, his hand moving back over Ati’s dick, infuriatingly outside of Ati’s pants and making whatever Ati was going to say break off into a groan. Before Ati could even think of recovering, Leras was gone again, kissing down Ati’s stomach in a way that made all his muscles clench from the warmth and softness of it.

He tugged on Ati’s pants and Ati was more than willing to lift his hips and help Leras yank them down, hissing slightly at the cold air when it hit him. Almost everything--physical contact, temperature, the softness of the sheets under him and the hard lines of Leras’ body against him--were much more overwhelming than he remembered them being, after so long without feeling.

Even here, Leras took his time, pressing kisses into the inside of Ati’s thighs until Ati was squirming, head pressed back into the pillows and begging in somewhat incoherent gasps. “Leras,” he managed, before cutting himself off, _“fuck--”_

“What do you want?” Leras asked, low and dark and infuriating and Ati let out a strangled noise of exasperation.

“ _Anything_ , Leras, _please_ \--” and apparently that was what Leras had been waiting for, or he got impatient as well, because then Leras’ mouth was exactly where Ati wanted it, and what was left of Ati’s words turned into a desperate, surprised moan. Even before, Leras hadn’t done this often--usually, it was Ati who loved kneeling with his head between the other man’s legs, driving Leras crazy with his fingers and his tongue.

That wasn’t to say that Leras was bad at it--not at all. It wasn’t in Leras’ nature to allow himself to be sub-par in anything. His hands were warm against Ati’s thighs, rubbing circles into them as Leras moved down further, and it took all of Ati’s self-control not to buck into the wet heat of his mouth, to instead just lay there, twisting the sheets beneath him, not even trying to muffle his voice.

This wasn’t _fair_ , he thought desperately, looking down at Leras and realizing that Leras’ eyes, clearly amused, had been on him the whole time. Seeing those grey eyes looking up through Leras’ eyelashes and the dark fringe of his bangs sent heat rippling down Ati’s spine. Leras was still _fully clothed_ , and here Ati was, nearly screaming his name, gasping for breath.

 _“Leras_ \--Leras, wait, please--” he managed to get out, and Leras immediately pulled off, looking at Ati, clearly concerned. For a moment, Ati wondered how in the world Leras could still seem so composed, the only sign of what he had just been doing a slight flush on his cheeks. Everything else--even his hair--was barely ruffled, while Ati was gasping for breath beneath him, desperate and wanting.

“Ati? Is something wrong?” Leras asked, and Ati realized suddenly how his abrupt stop must have sounded.

“No! God Beyond, Leras, no--I just--” Ati paused, looking at Leras again. “Leras, I want you.”

Leras’ eyes softened, the flush on his cheeks spreading. “You have me.”

Which was sweet and all, and made Ati’s heart _melt_ , but wasn’t what he meant. “No, I mean--Leras, I want to touch you. I want--” _I want to never have to stop touching you ever again, Leras, please, I need you here._

“Okay,” Leras said, his voice audibly catching as he leaned down to kiss Ati. Ati leaned up to meet him, pulling Leras down so he could feel the other man’s weight resting on him, solid and somehow incredibly arousing--and, on some much deeper level, incredibly comforting, proof that he was here. “Do you want me to take you, or--”

 _“Yes,”_ Ati said immediately, aware of the way that his own voice deepened on the word. Leras blinked, surprised, his grey eyes wide--and then he smiled, kissing Ati before sitting up to pull off his shirt.

Ati paused, looking at him for a moment, watching the way the sun painted Leras’ skin and hair, how it brought out the lightness of his eyes and the golden undertones of his skin. Despite the urgency singing in his blood, some part of him wanted him to stop, to grab some paper or something to draw with so he could sketch this out, fill it with color later, capture the beauty of the man he loved and save it for later.

How long had it been since he’d wanted to draw something?

“Ati?” Leras asked, and Ati blinked, realizing that he’d been staring at Leras for a few moments. He shook his head, leaning up and bracing himself with one hand so he could kiss Leras, his other hand slipping to the small of Leras’ back before moving down to his ass, making Leras gasp against Ati’s lips. When Ati pulled back, Leras was blushing, but he pushed Ati back down lightly, and Ati followed his lead and fell back onto the bed. Leras looked away for a second, frowning as if he was thinking of something and reaching behind him, before sitting up again, holding a small container of...some kind of oil?

 _Well, that’s good_ , Ati thought, realizing that he had completely forgotten about that requirement. A few thousand years without a body had made him forget about problems like friction. But--

“Where did that come from?” He asked, remembering that there had been no such thing on the bed before. Immediately, as Leras’ brow crinkled into a thoughtful frown and he shifted his position, Ati realized the mistake he’d made.

“Well, to tell you the truth I’m not actually sure--the same place as the lamp and the books and the bed, but that doesn’t really answer your question…”

“Leras--”

“This place is… well, as far as I can tell it’s not the Physical Realm, which I suppose makes sense, as there we’re dead, but wherever we are, there’s a lot of free, unshaped Investiture and--”

 _“Leras,”_ Ati reached up, pulling Leras down closer to him and kissing him as suggestively as he could, hearing Leras gasp as Ati slid one of his legs between Leras’ and ground against him, his hands sliding along Leras’ abdomen, tracing the line of his hips with his thumbs and holding him there. When he broke away, Leras--of course--opened his mouth again and Ati started talking before he could.

“Leras, I don’t actually care where it came from, just-- _fuck me._ Please.” He whispered the words, less than an inch away from Leras’ mouth, and could see the other man’s pupils dilate. Ati let go of Leras’ hips as Leras nodded, words seeming to have failed him.

It was hard to tell when Leras was impatient, Ati thought as Leras carefully coated his fingers in the oil before moving back down Ati’s body and pressing one into him, the sensation still odd to Ati, but not in a way that he couldn’t ignore. The former Preservation was so dedicated to seeming like he was in control at all times--but Ati could tell, could see it in the way Leras looked at him, at the way his chest was moving faster, his breathing harder than it would be normally. That didn’t mean that his slow pace wasn’t still infuriating, and Ati groaned, rolling his hips, trying to pull more action from the other man.

 _“Ati,”_ Leras said, his voice low as he pushed a second finger in, and Ati grinned in some triumph--and then Leras twisted his fingers just right and the grin was gone, Ati’s mouth falling open in a moan as Leras spend up, switching from carefully stretching Ati to fucking him with his fingers.

 _“Leras,_ fuck--” Ati was quickly losing control of his voice, things that were supposed to be pleas, or threats or even _coherent words_ melting together into garbled strings of vowels.He held onto Leras’ shoulder for some semblance of stability, fingers clenching too tight as Leras smirked, and added another finger, slowing for a minute as if to make sure that Ati wasn’t going to be hurt. It stretched--of course it stretched, and that hurt, but Ati couldn’t care less about that at the minute, swearing the moment Leras slowed down and trying to roll his hips to pick up the pace.

And that was _before_ Leras started talking again.

“I forgot how sensitive you were, here,” he said, almost conversationally. Only the deepness of his voice and the edge to his words, a slight strain at his tone, gave away anything about what he was doing. “How you start coming apart immediately, how loud you get the moment I--” He paused, twisted his fingers, and Ati nearly screamed, nails biting into Leras’ shoulder. “I could probably just keep doing this, not even touching your dick, and you’d come for me, wouldn’t you?”

He probably _would_ , Ati realized, especially if Leras kept talking. There was something in the control Leras had, the way he could be completely unaffected while Ati was a mess, that both infuriated Ati and made something warm and dark twist in his gut, spurring him closer to the edge even without those _far-too-talented_ fingers making him lose his mind. Fortunately, Leras seemed to realize this, because after a moment he pulled away to yank off his pants and slick himself up, Ati not even trying to stifle the whine at the loss of Leras’ warmth and the sudden emptiness.

When Leras slid into him, Ati couldn’t stop his eyes from slamming shut, attempting to filter out some of the assault on his senses as he wrapped his legs around Leras’ waist, trying to pull him closer despite the fact that suddenly, _everything_ was too much. Leras paused--of course he did, and Ati wasn’t sure whether to kiss him or yell at him for it. He forced his eyes open and found Leras staring at him with concern, running a hand through Ati’s hair to try to calm him down.

“ _Leras--_ ” Ati said, hoarse already.

“Are you alright?” Leras asked, his voice now something softer, more careful. Ati growled, some noise deep in his throat, and he saw Leras’ pupils dilate as Ati yanked him closer, into a kiss that was so hot that Ati swore he should have actually burned from it, the sensation of temperature was so sharp.

 _“No,”_ Ati said, pulling back slightly to glare up at Leras. “Move, Leras.”

Leras opened his mouth, as if about to ask if Ati was sure, but something in Ati’s face must have convinced him otherwise because instead he _finally_ started to move, Ati’s eyes slipping shut again as he wrapped his arms around Leras’ back, holding the other man close.

Leras clearly wanted to be gentle, moving slowly in shallow thrusts that still had Ati gasping, nails digging into Leras’ back as he was torn between the fact that any movement made him feel like he was on fire and the desperate urge to see how far he could push himself--if something as gentle as this was making him fall apart, what would it be like when Leras got serious?

Ati managed to open his eyes again and caught the look on Leras’ face--he was staring at Ati like he was something incredible, which was unfair given that at the moment, Leras himself was gorgeous. His dark skin was shining from the light and from sweat, his hair haphazardly pushed out of the way of his overbright eyes. Leras was beautiful like this, his control starting to visibly crack in the way he gripped Ati tighter, his eyes turning hazy and mouth falling open. He was never vocal the way that Ati was, but he instead gasped in a way that was audible, a soft sound that made Ati groan and try to pull him closer.

Leras met Ati’s eyes, and whatever self-control he had seemed to leave. He leaned down, pressing open-mouthed kisses to Ati’s skin wherever he could reach as his rhythm became erratic, faster and hard enough to make Ati’s hands try to turn into fists, slipping against Leras’ skin as Ati moaned, his legs tightening around Leras’ waist, trying to draw him impossibly deeper. He was right--if Leras’ previous pace had been overwhelming, this one was impossible, a strange form of overstimulation that only made Ati more aroused. Every touch felt impossibly warm, every thrust made him feel like he couldn’t breathe, and all he could do was hold onto Leras and want _more--_

Leras slipped a hand between them, taking hold of Ati’s dick and stroking it quickly, and Ati stopped trying to hold himself back, managing to choke out something that sounded like Leras’ name before he came with a strength that seemed to drive all coherency from his mind.

When he could think again, the first feeling he registered was the warmth, the sensation of resting in someone else’s arms and feeling wholly, completely safe.

“Leras?” He asked, noticing that his voice was...mostly gone. Well, that was to be expected. In answer, he got a light kiss against his lips, and he opened his eyes to see Leras pull away, a smile tugging at the edge of the other man’s lips. “What?”

Leras shook his head somewhat ruefully. “Nothing. Just...well, like I was saying earlier. I can’t believe I started to forget how beautiful you are.”

“Flatterer,” Ati said, but there was no venom to it, and Leras was already shaking his head. “No, I mean it. I...I love you, Ati. You, and your freckles--” He dropped a kiss to Ati’s forehead. “--and your hair and the way it looks like fire when the sun hits it just right, like it is right now. And your eyes, and the way they look like the sky in summer, and the way you curl up when you’re sleeping and the way you start smiling right before you laugh…” he trailed off, looking somewhat sheepish. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Ati replied, leaning up to kiss Leras again. When he pulled away, he frowned. There were some scratches, red and clearly visible, on Leras’ shoulder, and Ati remembered the way he’d grabbed on for stability--

“I’m fine,” Leras said quickly, smiling, but Ati ran a hand over the marks carefully. Leras was probably right--they were faint, going to fade soon, but he still felt guilty. Even now, more or less in his right mind--

“I’m still hurting you,” he said quietly, and Leras sighed, pulling Ati closer to him. Some part of Ati wanted to pull away, but it was faint and easily quashed by way that his chin fit easily along Leras’ shoulder when they were this close, the way he could feel the rise and fall of Leras’ chest as he breathed.

“Ati, if you’re counting scratching my back and shoulder as hurting me, you have to also count that rather impressive hickey on your neck--and the four lighter ones on the inside of your thighs--as me hurting you. You don’t--or am I wrong?”

Ati snorted, remembering the feeling of Leras’ lips against his skin. “Of course not. But that--well, that felt _good_ \--”

Leras looked to the side, his face flushing slightly again. “Who’s saying that those _didn’t_?”

Ati blinked, looking at the other man skeptically. Well, Leras couldn’t fake a blush like that… He decided to think about that tidbit of information later, instead relaxing into Leras’ arms. There was a moment of silence, one of Leras’ hands starting to absently comb through Ati’s hair.

“Leras?” Ati asked after a moment, looking up in time to catch Leras blink. He looked past the other man, down the long hall.

“Yes?” Leras said, the hand in Ati's hair stopping for a moment in a way that made Ati frown until he started again.

“Do you know where any of the doors in this place go?” Ati asked, looking at a massive archway at the end of the building, through which more sunlight poured. Leras paused, frowning.

“Actually, no. I was just waiting here. Why, do you want to go see?" He pushed himself up on one arm, but Ati shook his head, pulling Leras back down.

“Not right now. Right, now, can we just...be here?” Ati asked, his voice still faint. Leras paused, and then smiled.

“Of course.”


End file.
